CHICAGO — After almost a decade, Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza will not seek another term as the state’s chief financial officer.

Mendoza, who took office in December 2016 after beating an ally of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in a special election, has overseen the state’s financial systems through both the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst budget crisis any state has faced in modern history.

At a news conference Wednesday, Mendoza said she’s not running for reelection in the 2026 comptroller’s race, so she will have time to decide her next career move.

“I’m going to figure out what the right move is for our family, for our city, our state, find out where I’m needed most, that next biggest challenge that I need to take on,” Mendoza said.

Prior to taking statewide office, Mendoza was the first woman to be the Chicago City Clerk. Mendoza previously spent a decade in the Illinois House of Representatives.

It’s been widely speculated that Mendoza, who ran for Chicago mayor in 2019, is eyeing a run to unseat sitting Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in 2027.

While she didn’t commit to a run, she said she is “leaving the door open.” Several U.S. House seats are up for grabs, along with Illinois’ first open U.S. Senate seat since 2010.

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But when asked whether she was interested in a position in Congress, Mendoza laughed.

“No thank you,” she quickly said Thursday, before moving on to questions about a potential mayoral bid.

Comptroller vacancy

The comptroller’s office, traditionally a low-visibility role, became a high-stakes proxy battle between Democratic and Republican power brokers during the budget impasse of the mid-2010s.

Mendoza became the most vocal and high-profile statewide Democratic foil to Republicans at the height of the more than two-year budget impasse between Rauner and Democrats in the General Assembly. After Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka died in 2014, Rauner appointed Leslie Munger to the position. Mendoza beat Munger with 49.5% of the vote in a special election in 2016.

Mendoza gained statewide visibility for her frequent videos assailing Rauner and highlighting that the state was accruing a massive “bill backlog” driven by ongoing court-mandated expenditures amid dwindling revenue brought on by the impasse.

She won reelection in 2018 and 2022, routinely posting the widest margins of any statewide elected official.

No Republican, meanwhile, has won statewide office since Rauner  in 2014, and few have come especially close. This puts the focus for replacing Mendoza on the Democratic primary process. The announcement creates an opportunity for a new Democrat to make a run for an open statewide office for the first time since 2018.

Mendoza said she wanted to make the announcement early enough for people interested in replacing her to “make their pitches” to party officials. The Cook County Democratic Party — a powerhouse in statewide party politics — is holding its “slating” meetings this week to decide which candidates the party will endorse.

Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, is expected to appear at the slating for statewide candidates and make a formal announcement about her 2026 plans next week, according to sources close to the representative.

“With chaos unfolding at the national level, Illinoisans need steady state leadership and deserve a Comptroller who is prepared to lead with transparency, efficiency, and integrity,” Croke said in a statement after Mendoza’s announcement.

Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim is also expected to appear at the Cook County slating meeting, with an announcement about her plans in the coming weeks.

“Susana Mendoza raised the bar for transparency and accountability, and I intend to build on that legacy,” Kim said.

Sen. Karina Villa, D-Chicago, is also scheduled to appear at the slating meeting to discuss a potential comptroller bid. Sen. Javier Cervantes, D-Chicago, was previously on the agenda, although his name was later removed.  

Mendoza said she hopes her replacement is committed to serving the entire state, noting that while she is a Chicagoan, she said she has a “very soft spot in my heart for southern Illinois.”

Mayoral ambitions

While Mendoza did not commit to a run for mayor, she did speak at length about the needs of the city.

“Chicago is in dire need of competency, someone who understands the needs of the city, who understands how important the role of the city is to the good functioning of the whole state,” Mendoza said. “And I think we’ve had two very unsuccessful mayors in a row.”

Mendoza stressed public safety and Chicago’s need for a growth-centered economic policy.

“It’s not just our feathered friends that have flown south, it’s the most important bird in Chicago: the crane,” Mendoza said. “You can look at a city and gauge its financial health by the number of cranes that are in the sky. And, right now, you have an unobstructed, picture-perfect view of this city.”

If she runs, Mendoza could be joined by several other prominent Illinois politicians in the race for mayor. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is also rumored to be considering a run.

Mendoza made her announcement at Los Comales, a restaurant in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood that specializes in Mexico City-style tacos. Christina Gonzalez, the co-owner of the Los Comales chain and daughter of its founder, noted that Mendoza was from the neighborhood.

“She was always a customer here,” Gonzalez said. “Her parents brought her here and she knew my dad — my dad loved her.”

It’s the same restaurant where she announced her first run for state representative more than 20 years ago and her ill-fated mayoral bid in 2019.

Gonzalez said the restaurant, which was mostly empty aside from Mendoza’s supporters and reporters, has faced a significant slowdown in business recently, thanks to rumors about immigration enforcement.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.